Dragon's Misadventure
by baileyjdavis
Summary: Gajeel finds himself falling for a clutzy Tattoo Dragon Slayer in the Fairy Tail guild.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When the snow storm began, the lights went out just before Victoria was able to find her footing. Victoria toppled over the square coffee table made of glass, breaking it into a million minuscule pieces. She felt sharp pains all over her body and realized she had fallen into the glass pile. Victoria skillfully reached for her phone, which was deep in her right pocket, and turned on the flashlight. The light illuminated the mess she had just created, and the pitiful state she was currently in. Victoria sat up carefully as to not receive any more glass cuts. When she was able to extricate herself from the shards, she took a glance at her surroundings. The whole house was completely dark, besides what the light could expose. She made her way, VERY CAREFULLY, to the window to look up and down streets of Magnolia. There was no light. This was not looking promising. Victoria heaved a heavy sigh and made her way to the kitchen. It was a long process, seeing as it was three rooms away with breakables around every corner. She cursed herself for having so many knick knacks, albeit they were adorable and mostly figures of cats.

She finally made it to one of the kitchen cabinets where she kept her first aid supplies. By supplies, she basically just had some band aids and anti-bacterial cream. In the middle of reaching for the healing aids, she heard her front door bang open. A large gust of wind flew through the house and whipped her ombred raven-to-red hair around her face. She instantly dropped the band aids and reflexively took a fighting stance. She could feel the tattoos across her body stretching, moving, and reshaping. She was getting to ready to use her Tattoo Dragon Slayer magic when she saw who had entered her home. She relaxed immediately and stared into his red eyes.

"Gajeel, why are you here? I was about to kick your ass," Victoria said exasperated.

"Well geez Vick, after the lights went out I smelled all yer blood. I ran over to make sure you were okay. But if you don't want me here then fine," Gajeel said as he started to turn towards the front door.

"Don't be an idiot. Stay here and help me get cleaned up." Victoria blushed as she asked for him to stay. She wasn't sure how he would react. She and Gajeel had had this tension between them ever since they returned from Tenroujima Island. Victoria understood her feelings well enough. She liked Gajeel. A lot. He was strong, brave, caring when he needed to be, soft hearted, and loved cats. What she didn't know, was how he felt about her.

"Uh, yeah, I could definitely stay and help you. You know sort out all those cuts and get the glass out. How exactly did you manage to mangle yourself so badly?"

"Don't worry about it. Here, take these band aids and start patching me up. I don't have all day." Victoria tried to show a sense of bravado so she wouldn't come off as nervous and admittedly a little bit turned on.

Gajeel took the Band-Aids and had her sit on one of her kitchen chairs. He started dressing the deep, bleedy, wounds and stuttered, "Hey, uh, I'm gonna need you to take your top off…There are some deep gashes… and uh…"

"Chill Gajeel," Victoria responded breathlessly. She started to remove her shirt slowly, so as to nit cause herself more pain. She heard Gajeel gulp loudly when she ended up just in her bra and jeans. Her breasts didn't hold a candle to Lucy's, but she was well endowed with plentiful D cups.

"Stop staring and stop the bleeding please."

Gajeel snapped out of his trance and took the light from the phone to more closely examine her back. "Wow Vic, You really did a number on yourself here," He whispered while he started bandaging, "You gotta be more careful."

"Why do you care if I'm careful or not?" Vic asked incredulously.

"I just do k?" Replied Gajeel shortly.

"Fine." Vic knew that that was the best response that she was going to get out of him. She let a blush cross her face as she realized Gajeel really did care for her.

"There. All done. You should be mostly healed by tomorrow. We Dragon-Slayers have always been fast healers." Gajeel nodded as he examined his handiwork. "I better stay here with you while the power is out. We can't have you getting hurt again GeeHee."

He winked as he said this and went to work on picking up the glass shards. Vic was left there shirtless and blushing. Maybe her feeling were actually requited. There could be a future with Gajeel.

She ventured into the living room once she had gained her composure. Gajeel had turned his iron fist into a dust pan and was sweeping all the pieces of glass into it. She watched him work methodically. She even offered to help many times but he always told her that she would just hurt herself more. Vic scoffed at that because she is after all a bad ass dragon slayer. She could easily pick up the glass. But her internal self knew that he didn't really think she would get hurt, he just wanted to take care of her. Vic dozed off while she watched him leave with another load of glass to empty into the garbage can.

Vic found herself woken up by a loud rattling sound. She opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. Her living room looked back to normal, all her knick knacks were in place, and the lights were back on. She let out a sigh of relief felt something hard under her head. She didn't remember sleeping on anything besides the couch. She glanced up and saw a sleeping Gajeel. Vic found herself resting in his lap and he dozed off. A loud snore erupted from his throat and she realized that that was the sounds that had awoken her.

She glanced up once more to see Gajeel grin in his sleep. He let ouf a jarbled grumble that sounded like 'Victoria.' She blushed and slowly sat up, so as not to wake him. Vic silently raised herself up off of the couch and stared at Gajeel. She didn't know what to do now. She felt awkward just standing there, staring at the sleeping man on her couch, so she decided to busy herself with making breakfast for Gajeel.

She had barely made it into the kitchen when she felt an arm snake around her waist.

"Morning Vic," Gajeel yawned.

"Morning. I was just going to make breakfast."

"Sounds perfect." Gajeel smiled one of his signature smiles. A smile that had the power to melt the insides of Victoria into goo if she stared at it for too long. She turned, trying to hide her blush, and started preparing breakfast.


	2. Chapter 2

Breakfast had been a success. Gajeel loved it and she loved that she was able to make him happy with something this simple. They walked side by side down the streets of Magnolia, engaging in playful banter. Vic tried to keep her comebacks witty and sharp. She didn't want Gajeel to think she was flirting with him. Although she was flirting with him, he just didn't get to know it yet.

"Who knew hurting myself so idiotically could bring Gajeel and me closer together," Vic thought while she simultaneously laughed at what Gajeel had just said. They meandered through back alleyways making their way slowly to the Fairy Tail Guild. Subconsciously they both wanted to take their time getting there.

"So what does it mean to be a Tattoo Dragon Slayer? I mean Iron Dragon Slayer is pretty straightforward, but I'm having a hard time grasping yours." Gajeel asked out of nowhere.

Vic was taken by surprise at his sudden curiosity about her abilities. He had never asked before so she never told him. She thought back to the first time she realized what her powers were like herself. She of course knew her mother, Tatuira, had been a Tattoo Dragon. She didn't fully understand what that meant until months of training passed. She had finally learned how the lines mixed and mingled between one another in her body. She could feel the ink coursing through her veins, ready to change shape to her will. She was practicing basic moves until she was able to master them. For what seemed like the thousandth time, she yelled, "Roar of the Tattoo Dragon!" She felt the ink within her body respond to her command. They shot from her mouth in spinning spikes ready to strike. She wasn't halfway through the move when she felt a stinging pain race across her back. She collapsed to the earth, unable to comprehend what was happening to her.

"Good Victoria. You are earning your first tattoo," Taturia nodded in approval. Victoria could feel the lines slowly dragging across her back. The pain was not unbearable, but it had surprised her so much all she could do was sit there. When the stinging ceased, she sat up and asked Taturia what her comment meant.

"When one is training to become a Tattoo Dragon Slayer, it isn't enough to just have the ink flow through your body. As you train, as you advance, and as you battle, you will gain tattoos across your body. These give you added moves and advantages as a Tattoo Dragon Slayer. For instance, with your master of the Roar, you earned your first skin marking. You now have an outline of wings across you back. It is faint, and right now won't help you much, but as you practice and learn they will grow more defined and more detailed."

Victoria took in Taturia's words and trained the best she could. It didn't take her long to be able to transform the ink outline into beautiful wings drawn across her back. When her tattoo was finally formed, she was able to lift the ink lines off of her skin and into the air. Her tattoo became lifelike and her wings were able to lift her into the air. They were glorious and Vic had never felt so free.

"Now I need you to know that you got these wings very easily. The first tattoo comes easily with practice and training. The rest won't be so easy. You need to fight and learn the ways of being a Dragon Slayer to earn more tattoos. Use your Roar, use your skills, and manipulate the ink that flows within your veins. Use the ink in your body as weapons against foes. Fight, reach your threshold, and pass it. Then you will earn more skin marking that aid in your battles."

Not long after Taturia disappeared. She soon learned that Taturia disappeared the same time as the other Dragon Slayer's parent dragons. She was snapped out of he reverie when Gajeel nudged her in the side.

"Sorry was I not supposed to ask that? It's just that I've seen you fight and it's amazing. You are able to create whatever you want out of ink. Your wings are magnificent and I noticed you had a couple other tattoos on your body. I just wondered how it all worked," Gajeel muttered sheepishly. He turned away to hide his blush.

"No it's fine. I was just remembering my mother. She was wise dragon who knew more than I can even imagine. She taught me to use the ink that lies within my body. She taught me how to use it in helpful ways. I will always have that. The tattoos on my body are a little different. They're almost like battle scars. I have to fight and earn my new markings. The wings on my back were the first ones I earned. I earned those by training and learning the ways of the Tattoo Dragon Slayer. The other few I have were hard earned and have long stories behind them. Each one appeared after I surpassed an incredible trial in my life. We're almost to Fairy Tail and I don't really have time to explain them, but just know they help give me advantages in battles," Vic explained.

Gajeel nodded slowly, understanding better how her powers worked. Vic could tell he wanted to know what all of the tattoos on her body were and what they did. She decided she would make him earn them, just like she did.

"How about this Gajeel. If you take me to dinner tonight i'll tell you why I have a cat tattoo behind my ear." Victoria winked and ran ahead of him embarrassed of her forwardness. She reached the guild first, turned, and saw Gajeel chasing after her. She smiled. If she didn't make the first move, she was pretty sure that gorgeous oaf never would.


	3. Chapter 3

Gajeel caught up to her and stopped to admire the newly fallen snowflakes littering her hair and eyelashes. She was beautiful and she had given him the opportunity he was desperately searching for all morning.

"So, dinner huh? I think I could arrange that." Gajeel winked at her and put his hand on the small of her back and led her into the Guild hall.

The hall was bustling with noise as usual. Victoria looked up at Gajeel and smiled, knowing that it was a big deal for him to show any kind of affection to anyone, let alone a girl, and in public. They walked over to Mira who handed them both a drink.

"Hey guys! Makarov wanted me to give you guys this request," Mira said as she handed over a slip of paper.

 **HELP!**

OUR TOWN HAS BEEN OVERRUN!

WE NEED WIZARDS TO HELP

CLEAN UP OUR STREETS!

REWARD: 1,000,000 jEWEL

Gajeel and Victoria looked over the request. The reward was too good to pass up. Victoria remembered the rent bill looming over her head.

"I think we should take it. Especially is Makarov thinks we would be the best for the job."

Gajeel nodded slowly and looked at Mira. He nodded curtly and muttered a thanks as he started walking out of the guild hall. Victoria looked after him. Did she do something wrong? Did he not want to spend that much time with her? She basically just let him know she wanted to spend weeks with him...she must have come on too strong. She looked at Mira and Mira gave her a reassuring nod. Vic sighed as she walked towards the back of the busy guild hall. Gajeel confused her. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. She found a table to herself and started drinking the drink she was given by Mira. She wasn't alone for long. Laxus made eye contact with her and sat down across from her. She liked Laxus well enough, but not in the way he admired her.

"Hey Vic, what are you doing here all alone? I better keep you company," he said as if he were saving her from some horrible fate.

"I actually chose to be alone and right now you are taking that decision away from me," Vic said cruelly.

Laxus looked diminished. She could visibly see him deflate as he started at her.

"Harsh Vic. I'm just trying to be nice."

Victoria looked at him and sighed. He hadn't done anything wrong. She was

upset at Gajeel, not at Laxus. Hurting him would just harm the friendship they had built.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I've got to get better at not taking my emotions out on other people."

Laxus nodded. "You're preaching to the choir. I am the poster boy for taking emotions out on other people. Look i get if you want to be alone. Just...um...remember that i'm uh here if you need to talk….or something..I don't know…" Laxus trailed off, a subtle blush creeping up onto his cheeks.

Victoria smiled and thanked Laxus for his kindness. He left after that and she was left alone to her thoughts.

"Okay Vic, why are you acting this way? You can't control that Gajeel just left. What you can control is what you do. If you want to go on this job with Gajeel just go tell him that! What's the worst that could happen? He says no? You've been told no before. This is no different."

Happy with her pep-talk to herself she got up to leave the guild. She looked to her left and noticed Natsu and Lucy. They looked so happy. Their relationship was so evolved but yet so simple. She found herself jealous of how easily they were able to talk to and be with each other. She waved in their direction and walked out of the guild. She got two feet out of the front door when she noticed Gajeel sitting there, spinning a single flower between his thumb and forefinger. She just stared for a minute. There was something beautiful about such a big man made of iron daintily handling a flower. It must be one of the last flowers of the season. She walked over to Gajeel who was sitting on the river bank Lucy so frequently walked.

"You know, flowers usually grow better if you leave them in the ground," Vic said coyly as she sat down next to him. She let her legs dangle over the ends so the tips of her boots were gliding calmly over the ice that now overtook the river.

Gajeel sputtered and dropped the flower down onto the ice below him. He didn't say anything and just stared at the flower. Victoria wasn't sure what to do next, but what she did surprised her. She took Gajeel's hand and held it. She wanted to feel him. She wanted him to handle her with as much grace as he handled the delicate flower. He looked at her as she slid her fingers in between his.

"Look..Um i'm sorry I walked out after Mira handed us the job. I just didn't want you to feel like you had to go with me. I mean I know you could easily take Laxus or someone and didn't want to ya know just assume we were gonna go together," Gajeel muttered but still looking her in the eyes. Victoria understood then. Gajeel was insecure! While I was in there feeling sorry for myself, he was out here thinking I would rather take Laxus.

"You know I didn't want you to take me to dinner just so I could get free food. It's because I like you Gajeel!" The end of her statement almost came out in a yell as she rushed to get the words out before she could chicken out. She felt so relieved to finally say them outloud. The rest was up to him. She looked into his deep maroon eyes and waited for his response. He didn't speak right away. They just stared, their hands mingling together as one.

"I like you too." It came out in a whisper. It almost sounded like it pained him to say it. When she searched his face however, she saw no pain. Just determination. He took his other hand and roughly grabbed the back of her neck. She gasped in surprise as he pulled her into him. Their lips crashed together and Vic wrapped her free hand around his neck. She felt his hair. It was softer than she imagined. He was warm and kind and she could sense his passion through their kiss. The snowy streets of Magnolia disappeared around them. They were the only things that mattered. Victoria pulled away. She smiled up at him and said, "I think we have a trip to pack for."

Gajeel nodded and smiled his goofy grin Victoria has become so fond of. "First, GeeHee, I owe you a free dinner," he replied. He winked at her and stood. He reached out his hand to pull her up. She obliged and he helped her to her feet. He embraced her then. She closed her eyes and embraced the warmth. Gajeel hugged her back but then took a step back quickly. He held a snowball in his hand and was grinning a toothy grin.

"Don't you dare Gajeel!" Victoria joked.

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it? Gee Hee." Gajeel reached out his long arm and squished the ball into her hair. He made a run for it and Victoria stood there watching after him. She shook the snow out of her hair and smiled. This was going to be a fun trip.


End file.
